StatFox.com - Sports Handicapping Community

The Leader In Sports Handicapping

Cardinals, Mets clash on Thursday night
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 8/25/2016  at  10:48:00 AM
  Print This Article    

NEW YORK METS (63-63)

at ST. LOUIS CARDINALS (67-58)

First pitch: Thursday, 7:15 p.m. ET
Line: New York +145, St. Louis -155, Total: 8.5

The Mets will be hoping to continue to make up ground in the NL Wild Card race with a win over the Cardinals on Thursday.

The Cardinals offense was on fire on Wednesday night, racking up eight runs on 19 hits against deGrom. The team will be feeling confident heading into Thursday and has the advantage in the pitching matchup on paper. St. Louis will be trotting out RHP Adam Wainwright (9-7, 4.71 ERA, 119 K) in this game and he’ll be going up against the inexperienced RHP Seth Lugo (0-2, 3.04 ERA, 19 K). This game is an important one at this point in the year, as both teams are vying for the same NL Wild Card spot. The Cardinals are in better shape than the Mets right now, but New York was in the World Series last year and is hoping to turn things around and sneak its way into the postseason. The team would feel as good as anybody about its chances if it were to find a way in, but missing out on the playoffs would be a major disappointment after coming so close a year ago. One trend worth pointing out in this game is that St. Louis is 68-25 against the money line as a favorite of -150 or more over the past two seasons. OF Jay Bruce (Calf) is questionable for this one after leaving the game early Wednesday night.

The Mets are coming off of a bad performance on Wednesday and will be hoping to turn things right around on Thursday. New York needs to win games in bunches the rest of the way and Seth Lugo is the guy that will be tasked with shutting down the Cardinals in this one. Lugo has started just one game this season, but he did pitch well in that Aug. 19 meeting with San Francisco. The righty allowed just three runs in 6.2 innings of work and that is the type of game the Mets would certainly sign up for on Thursday. Offensively, it’d be big if OF Jay Bruce (.248, 27 HR, 86 RBI) could play in this one. He said that he is hoping to be out there and the slugger has dominated Adam Wainwright in his career. Bruce is 12-for-41 with two doubles, two homers and 10 RBI against the Cardinals pitcher. It’d be a major loss if he were to have to miss this one. Another guy that has given Wainwright fits in the past is 1B James Loney (.266, 6 HR, 26 RBI). Loney doesn’t play every night for New York, but he is 16-for-31 with five doubles, a homer and three RBI against Wainwright in his career. That production should earn him a spot in the lineup and it’d really spark the team if he were to perform at a high level on Thursday.

Adam Wainwright has had a rough year for St. Louis and just has not been able to regain his footing with the team. He was once the ace for the Cardinals and hasn’t been able to pitch to his expectations. Still, there is plenty of time left for Wainwright to turn things around and all would be forgiven if he were to help St. Louis make the playoffs and pitch well once the team got there. The last time the righty faced this Mets team, he allowed four earned runs on 11 hits in 6.2 innings of work. Wainwright will need to do a better job of avoiding contact on Thursday. Offensively, OF Stephen Piscotty (.279, 19 HR, 71 RBI) is a guy to keep an eye on in this one for St. Louis. Piscotty was 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBI against the Mets on Wednesday and now has four homers and 10 RBI over the past 10 games. If he can stay hot then this Cardinals lineup will be extremely dangerous and should be able to earn yet another victory on Thursday.


FoxSheets.com
The FoxSheets - the most advanced sports handicapping information available on the internet.
Sign up for professional sports betting information including fantastic trends, and Free FoxSheets.
E-mail: